People living in 12 riverside houses in Evesham have each paid £12,000 for private flood defences.

Guy Stevenson, who owns one of the houses on Waterside, said: "It is a large amount of investment but it puts everyone's minds at rest - there has to be a massive amount of water before it comes over."

He said it "would have been nice" if the council had paid for the flood defences, but accepted that "sometimes if you live by the river you have to accept these things".

When the flooding in Evesham was at its worst an officer from the Environment Agency tweeted a photo of some riverside flats commenting "these places [are] well designed."

David Sermon, who lives in the flats on Monks Walk, said: "We've never been flooded inside this house since it was built 23 years ago, even in 2007 when all you could see was the top of the bandstand."

The main living accommodation is 5m (15ft) above the normal river level.

Mr Sermon said the architect was so confident the flats would not be affected by flood water that he moved his mother into one of them when they opened.

Image caption
The architect was so confident his flats in Evesham were flood proof he moved his mother into one